Two of the world’s biggest fighting organizations are coming together.
On Monday, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announced they will be merging with Endeavor Group, the parent company of UFC.
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According to CNN, the merger will form an unnamed new publicly traded company valued at over $21 billion.
“This is a rare opportunity to create a global live sports and entertainment pureplay built for where the industry is headed,” said Ariel Emanuel, CEO of Endeavor, in a statement.
Vince McMahon will continue on at the new company, retaining his current title at WWE as executive chairman.
The wrestling bigwig said in a statement that the new company “will be well positioned to maximize the value of our combined media rights.”
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Until now, WWE has been a family business, with McMahon purchasing the pro wrestling company from his father in the 1980s. Under his leadership, the company became a massive entertainment empire.
Last year McMahon stepped down as CEO over a scandal involving hush money and sexual harassment.
In January, he returned to WWE as a board member.
Talking about his decision to stay on with the newly merged company, McMahon said in a statement, “I love what I do. I loved building the WWE. All of my life, it’s my passion. To have an opportunity like this… can’t be better than that.”
